Saturday’s LaPorte Regional was a 50-50 proposition for the Chesterton
wrestling team.

“We brought 10 and we got five,” assistant coach Jason Cook said.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to
Saturday’s Merrillville Semistate, where the Trojans will be represented by
Zack Thornton (125), Chris Katsafaros (130), Brandon Garvey (152), Anthony
Quiroz (160) and Frank Raudry (heavyweight).

“The five we got were not a surprise,” Cook said. “They’re great wrestlers.
They’re our studs.”

Thornton, Katsafaros and Quiroz all were runners-up with Thornton (31-4)
coming the closest to a title, losing a back-and-forth offensive scramble
with Hanover Central’s John Petrov (37-1), 10-8.

“It was an amazing match,” Cook said. “Matches like that are why you’re in
the sport.”

“Chris showed what he’s capable of the first two matches,” Cook said. “He
has his own style that coach (Brian) Swallow has worked with him on and it’s
pretty nasty when it works. He’s a dangerous threat for anybody that is
unlucky enough to draw him. Jason Tsirtsis is one of the top two, three
wrestlers in the state if not the best. Chris is not at that level at this
point, but we’re going to try to get him there by the time he’s a senior.
He’s not intimidated. He goes after him.”

Quiroz was slated to face Portage’s undefeated Sean McMurray for the fourth
Saturday in a row, but he and the coaching staff decided to default the 160
final. Quiroz sprained a ligament in his left knee during his sectional
match with McMurray.

“We wanted to be careful,” Cook said. “Our goal was to get to next week. He
won his semifinal because he’s a competitor. When you’re injured, you do
things that are the best to achieve your goals and our goal wasn’t to win
the regional. Our goal is to win a state title. We’re not running from
anybody. We’ll do the right things, hope we get some breaks as far as his
health and try to make it pay off.”

Quiroz told the coaches he was willing to give it a go, but they decided
against it.

“All week, I was icing and stimming. It’s starting to feel better,” Quiroz
said. “We just didn’t want to risk it. It wasn’t worth it. We’ll just get it
ready for (semistate).”

Garvey (27-10) downed New Prairie’s Dillan Escobedo 7-2 in a rematch of the
sectional final to capture third place.

“I can’t say enough about the kid,” Cook said. “He and Tony (Sanchez) are
kids who do everything you want them to do for you. It kills you to see
something happen like it did to Tony (a first-round loss by pin), but it’s
great for Brandon. Hopefully he can put at least two more matches together
and if he does, he’ll probably be wrestling for state.”

Raudry (12-12) finished fourth at heavyweight, losing by fall in the
consolations to Portage’s Mark Devyak in 33 seconds.

“A couple weeks ago, Frank started to become a wrestler,” Cook said. “He was
winning matches, but it was hard to call him a wrestler. He was just an
athlete wrestling. It’s fun to watch him have some success. It shows the
good things coach Batista has done with him, getting him in the right
mindset and knowing what he has to do to be successful.”

Also for Chesterton, Joe Kelly was a 3-1 loser to Kankakee Valley’s Aaron
Kearney in the first round at 135, while Will Butz fell 9-0 to C.P.’s Josh
Flamme. Sevante Yates was on the short end of the same score against K.V.’s
Nick Berdine at 189. Chris Copollo (145) was pinned in 24 seconds by C.P.’s
undefeated Eric Roach, while Sanchez was pinned by Hanover Central’s Brandon
Bisping in 1:13.

"We had some tough first-round matches,” Cook said. “Tony was one we thought
we could get, but you don’t win every single match you’re supposed to. We
were outmanned sometimes and didn’t pull any of those off, but it’s fun,
trying to find a way to give them a chance. That’s why you compete.”